So much has been accomplished, but the job is not yet complete.
With the 2017 AAA State Playoffs having arrived, the path to playing for a state championship is now set for the 10-0 Indianola Academy Colonels.
The Colonels are once again on a quest to earn their way into the state championship game for the third time in three years and to hopefully claim their second consecutive state championship.
However, there is business to take care of as a total of four games must be won before the five-time District 1AAA champion Colonels can entertain thoughts of claiming another state crown.
That matter of taking care of that business begins this Friday night when North Delta School of Batesville visits Legion Field.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We have to stay focused and take one game at a time,” noted IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. Given that one loss now ends a season, the highly successful coach observed that “Everyone is 0-0 in the playoffs and the bottom line is you win and advance, you lose and you stay home.”
A victory this week would return IA to their home field on November 3 against the winner of this week’s Leake Academy (Madden) versus Bayou Academy (Cleveland) playoff contest.
As long as they continue winning, the Colonels will retain home field advantage through the semifinal game of the playoffs. This privilege was earned on the strength of the Colonels being ranked as the top seed in all of AAA football. The AAA State Championship game will be played Saturday, November 18 at Jackson Academy.
As for this week’s opponent, the North Delta School Green Wave are the No. 16 seed in the playoffs and will come to town owning a 6-4 record.
“North Delta has a good ball club,” Coach Nester, “they are good offensively and will test us well.”
This week’s game with North Delta School is the second time the two schools have met this season as IA earned a 38-8 victory in the sixth week of the season.
The Green Wave will come into this week’s game hungry for a win as they have recently suffered a three game losing streak to close out their regular season schedule.
Last Friday night, they dropped a high-scoring 43-32 decision to Bayou Academy.
In their own regular season finale last Friday night in Clarksdale, the Colonels came home with a 44-14 victory over the Lee Academy Colts.
After closing out the first half of play with a 27-14 lead, the Colonels then posted 17 unanswered second half points to take the game to its’ 30 point margin of victory.
The Colonels featured a ground attack which accumulated 426 yards on 34 rushes to wear the Colts defense down.
Leading the Colonels in this game was Sebastian Harris, whose 20 carries earned a new school single game record 315 yards as well as three touchdowns.
Harris opened the game’s scoring with a 63-yard run to the end zone which was followed moments later by Wesley Lester’s 16-yard touchdown run.
Although the PAT was blocked, the first period ended with IA up by a 13-6 margin.
The second quarter saw IA move the score to its halftime 13 point lead when quarterback Will Davis scored the first of his two TD’s with a nine yard scoring sprint. Harris later followed with his second touchdown of the game, a run which covered two yards.
IA posted additional points on the scoreboard in the third quarter, a period of time which saw Harris and Davis score again with runs covering 46 and 14 yards respectively. Meanwhile, William Barrier closed out IA’s scoring with a 26-yard, fourth quarter field goal.
Offensively, in addition to the Colonels strong running attack, Davis completed six passes to six different receivers for a total of 75 yards.
Defensively, IA was led by John Abbott Smith’s three solo, six assist night of play.
Strong numbers were also had by Ashton Powell (3 solos, 4 assists) and Jack Dodd (5 assists).
Again making his presence known at defensive end was Lester, where the junior collected one solo tackle, three assists, one fumble recovery, and a pair of quarterback sacks.
Rounding out the leaders on defense were James Hill, Stefon Smith, and Woods Toler, all of whom recorded one solo tackle and four assists apiece.
